Microsoft Anti-Piracy Move Irks Chinese Official

The anti-piracy move from Microsoft prompted lawsuit threats and howls of indignation in China, where the vast majority of computer users are believed to be using pirated versions, unwittingly or not.

BEIJING (Reuters)
- A top Chinese copyright official chided Microsoft for launching an
anti-piracy tool that nags users of counterfeit software with a black
computer screen and said the company's prices were too high.

The U.S. software giant launched "Windows Genuine Advantage" in
China last week, a program that turns the background of the Windows
operating system's desktop black if the software fails a validation
test.

The move prompted lawsuit threats and howls of indignation in China,
where the vast majority of computer users are believed to be using
pirated versions, unwittingly or not.

National Copyright Administration (NCA) Vice-Director Yan Xiaohong
said his agency supported "the rights-safeguarding move taken by
institutions including Microsoft," Xinhua news agency quoted him as
saying in a report late on Monday.

But companies should "pay attention to the methods," Yan said.
"Whether the 'black-out' method should be adopted is open to question.
Measures for safeguarding rights also need to be appropriate," Yan said.

Microsoft has defended the program as a measure to protect its
intellectual property and help customers determine that they have legal
software.

Methods to subvert the program were circulated on Chinese blogs and Internet chat-rooms within days of its launch.

Dong Zhengwei, a Beijing lawyer, said Microsoft was abusing its
market power and had filed a complaint to China's trade watchdog, the
State Administration for Industry and Commerce, the China Daily said in
separate report.

"Microsoft should be fined $1 billion," the paper quoted the lawyer as saying.

"The company adopted unified prices in the past without considering
the income gap between developed and developing countries, so we need
to kindly remind them that Chinese customers' affordability should be
considered."

Microsoft's China office denied users were being forced to use the
anti-piracy program and pointed to recent sales promotions cutting
prices of its software in China.

"We appreciate the NCA's understanding and support on efforts made
by right holders including Microsoft to protect IPR," it said in a
statement on Tuesday.

"Building a market environment that respects intellectual property
rights is critical to the development of the entire software industry
and of knowledge economy in China."

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